With defensive linemen Haloti Ngata, Chris Canty, and Terrence Cody away from OTA’s, younger linemen like Brandon Williams, Timmy Jernigan, DeAngelo Tyson, and Kapron Lewis-Moore are getting more reps. The Ravens have invested a number of recent draft picks in the defensive line, and hope it pays dividends in 2014.

“I’m very excited,” said defensive coordinator Dean Pees. “What C. B. (defensive line coach Clarence Brooks) does really well with all those guys – they all know how to play multiple positions. It’s not like – ‘OK, you’re a nose guard, that’s all you can play, or a three-technique, and that’s all you can play.’ Those guys have to learn all three, and they have to do it in OTA’s. What’s really good about that is we can then assess where maybe they’re best at and then we can put them there. If something happens to somebody you have some versatility.”

The Ravens would like to keep from overworking Ngata (30 years old) and Canty (31 years old). If Williams, Jernigan, Tyson, and Lewis-Moore step forward, it would also help fill the void left by losing defensive lineman Arthur Jones to the Colts during free agency.